Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-10-06

our watches showed, midday. According
ly we seated ourselves in a circle, and were
soon engaged in discussing our cold meat
with such appetite as we could muster,
which, In my case, at any rate, was not
much, as | felt sick and faint after my suf-
ferings of the previous night, and had, be-
| sides, racking headache. 1t was curl
| Gus meal. The gloom was so intense that
we could scarcely see the way to cut our
| food and convey it to our mouths Still
we got on pretty well, although the meat
| was tainted by the heat through which it
had passed, till happened to look behind
me-my attention being attracted by a
noise of something crawling over the stones
/ and perceived, sitting upon a rock in my
| immediate rear, a huge species of black
| fresh-water crab, only it was five times the
size of any crab l ever saw. This hideous
and loathsome looking animal had pro-
! jecting eyes that seemed to glare at one,
very long and flexible antenne, or feelers,
and gigantic claws. Nor was / especially
favored with its company. From every
! quarter, dozens of these horrid br'ltes were
creeping up, drawn, / suppose, by the
| smell of the food, from between the round
stones and out of holes in the precipice.
| Some were already quite close to us.
stared, quite fascinated by the unusual
sight; and as | did SO, 1 saw one of the
| beasts stretch out it's huge claw and give
| the unsuspecting Good such nip behind
that he jumped up with a howl, and set
| the wild echoes flying in sober earnest.
Just then, too, another, very large one,
| got hold of Alphonse's leg and declined to
| part with it, and, as may be imagined, a
considerable scene ensued. Umslopogaas
i +r>,,I Il. o,>I 81 Is
| with the flat of it, whereon it set up hor-
| rid sort OF screaming which the echoes
multiplied a thousand fold, and began to
| foam at the mouth, a proceeding that drew
| hundreds more of it's friends out of I'M
suspected holes and corners. Those on
| the spot, perceiving that the animal was
hurt, fell upon it like creditors on a bank
rupt, and literally rent it limb from limb
with their huge pincers and devoured it,
| using their claws to convey the fragments
to their mouths. Selling whatever weap-
ons were handy, such as stones or paddles,
we commenced a war upon Thermometers
whose numbers were increasing by leaps
| and bounds, and whose stencil was over
towering. So fast as we cracked their
armor, others seized the injured ones and
devoured them, foaming at the mouth and
brutes stop at that When they could they
nipped hold of us-and awful nips they
were-or tried to steal the meat. One
enormous fellow got hold of the swan we
had skinned and began to drag it off, In
stantly score of others flung themselves
upon the prey, and then began CHASTITY,
disgusting scene. How the monsters
foamed, and screamed, and rent the flesh,
n
unnatural sight, and one that Will haunt
all who saw it till their dying day-enacted
as it was in the deep, oppressive gloom,
and set to the unceasing music of the
many-toned nerve-Shaking echoes. Strange
as it may seem to say so, there was some
thing shockingly human about these fiend-
ish creatures;-it was as though all the
most evil passions and desires of man had
got into the shell of a magnified crab and
gone mad. They We're so dreadfulfy cour-
agous and intelligent, and they looked as
if they understood. The whole scene might
have furnished material for another canto
of Dante's Inferno, as Curtis said.
II say, you fellows, let's get out OF this
Or we shall all go off our heads" sung out
Good; and we were not slow to take the
hint. Pushing the canoe, around which
the animals were now crawling by hun
dreds and making vain attempts to climb,
off the rocks, we bundled into it and got
out into mid-stream, leaving behind us the
fragments of our meal, and the screaming,
foaming sinking mass of monsters in full
possession of the grounds.
"Those are the devils of the place." said
Umslopogaas, with the air of one who has
solved problem; and upon my word l felt
almost inclined to agree with him.
Umslopogaas' remarks were like his AK
very much to the point.
''What's to be done next?'' said Sir Henry,
blankly.
Drift. suppose, answered; and we
drifted accordingly. All the afternoon and
well into the evening we floated on in the
gloom beneath the far-off line Of blue sky,
scarcely knowing when day ended and
night began, for down in that vast gulf the
difference was not marked, till at length
Good pointed out q star hanging right
above us, which, having nothing better to
do, we observed with great interest. Sud-
denly it vanished the darkness became in
tense, and familiar murmuring sound
filed the air. Underground again.
said, with groan, holding up the lamp.
Yes, there was no doubt about it. [ could
Just make out the roof. The chasm had
come TO an emu ana Uno TUNNEL ndO fo-COln-
menced And then began another long,
long night of danger and horror. To de
scribe all it's incidents would be too weari
some; SO 1 will simply say that about mid
night we struck on a flat. projecting rock
in mid stream, and were as nearly Us pos
sible overturned and drowned. However,
at last we got off, and proceeded upon the
uneven tenor of our way. And 50 the
hours passed till it was nearly three O'Clock.
Sir Henry, Good, and Alphonse were
asleep. utterly worn out; Umslopogaas was
at the bow with the pole, and [ was steer
ing, when I perceived that the rate at
which we were travelling had perceptibly
increased. Then, suddenly, | heard UNI
slopogaas make an exclamation, and the
next second came q sound as Of parting
branches, and / became aware that the
canoe was being forced through hanging
bushes or creepers. Another minute and
a breath OF sweet open air famed my face,
and felt that we had emerged from the
tunnel and were floating upon clear water.
I say felt, for could see nothing; the dark
ness being absolutely pitchy, as it often is
lust before the dawn. But even this could
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